Elastic bandage

ABSTRACT

An elastic bandage for use on human limbs which consists of a length of tubular elastic material which can be easily slipped over the user&#39;&#39;s hand or foot. When the bandage is at the desired location a portion of the bandage is doubled over itself to provide sufficient tension. Suitable fastening means, such as mating pieces of Velcro, are provided to hold the doubled over portion in place.

United States Patent [1 Lemon 4 1 3,710,790 I [4 1 Jan. 16,1973

541 ELASTIC BANDAGE [76] Inventor: George E. Lemon, 286 Lora Ave.,

Youngstown, Ohio 44505 [22] Filed: Dec. 2, 1969 [21] Appl. No.: 881,535

[52] US. Cl. .l ..128/165 [51] Int. Cl. ..A6lf 13/10 [58] Field ofSearch.l28/77, 157, 165, 166, DIG. 15,

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,232,289 2/1966 Zimmerman..j ..'.128/D1G. 15 2,646,796 7/1953 Scholl; ..128/157 752,769 2/1904Graichen. ..2/ 162 2,288,150 6/1942 Wyman...'.... ...273/166 3,480,01211/1969 Smithers et al.... ..128/157 3,501,773 3/1970 Stansberry et al...273/166 X FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS 318,767 9/1929 Great Britain128/157 1,263,391

5/1961 France ..128/D1G. 15

Primary ExamineF-Robert W. Michell Attorney-Peter L. Klempay [5 7ABSTRACT An elastic bandage for use on human limbs which consists of alength of tubular elastic material which can be easily slipped over theuser's hand or foot. When the bandage is at the desired location aportion of .the

bandage is doubled over-itself to provide sufficient tension. Suitablefastening means, such as'mating pieces of Velcro, are provided'to holdthedoubled over portion in place.

4 Claims, Drawing Figures PATENTEDJAH 16 I915 3.710.790

INVENTOR.

GEORGE E. LEMON BY AGENT ELASTIC BANDAGE This invention relates to'anelastic bandage for use on human arms or legs and more particularly toan elastic bandage which may be easily positioned in the desiredlocation and which may be easily secured to apply the desired amount oftension.

Presently employed elastic bandages used to protect sprained muscles andweak joints, among other uses, are difficult for the wearer to properlyapply without assistance. This is especially true when the bandage mustbe applied to an arm as the wearer then has only one hand free toposition the bandage, wrap it so as to apply the desired amount oftension, and secure the bandage in place.

It is the primary object of the present invention to provide an improvedelastic bandage which a user may readily position and secure in thedesired location v 10 midway between its edges but is spaced from thewithout assistance. It is also an object of the present invention toprovide an elastic bandage which the user may position and secure in thedesired location and with the desired amount of tension with the use ofonly one hand. A further object of the invention is the provision of anelastic bandage which when installed, presents a neat appearance.Another object of the present invention is the provision of an elasticbandage which is of simple and inexpensive construction.

In accordance with the principles of my invention these objectives arefulfilled by providing an elastic bandage in tubular form which may befolded over itself along a portion of its circumference and whichincludes easily fastened securing means to hold the folded-over portionsin place.

The above and other objects and advantages of my invention will becomeapparent upon consideration of the following specification and theaccompanying drawing wherein'there is shown a preferred embodiment ofthe invention.

In the drawing:

FIG. 1 is a perspective side view of the elastic bandage of myinvention;

FIG. 2 is a plan view of the bandage of FIG. 1 in which the bandage hasbeen slit and flattened to show the relative locations of the fasteningmembers;

FIG. 3 is a pictorial view showing the elastic bandage positioned on theusers arm in an untightened state;

FIGS. 4 and 5 are pictorial views showing the bandage in various stagesof being secured to the users arm;

FIG. 6 is a pictorial view showing the bandage applied and tightened ona users arm;

FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view showing the bandage in a tightenedposition; and

FIG. 8 is a perspective side view of a second embodiment of the elasticbandage of my invention.

As will be seen from FIGS. 1 and 2, the bandage of my invention consistsof a length of tubular elastic A material 10. Secured to the outersurface of the band 10 are a pair of mating fastening members 11 and 12.

These fastening members 11 and 12 preferrably consist of mating piecesof Velcro, one member consisting of a piece of material having numerousclosely spaced hook-like elements on one surface and the other memberhaving numerous closely spaced loop-like elements on one surface. Thefirst fastening member 11 is secured along its entire length to theelastic band 10 midway between opposite edges of the band. The secondfastening member 12 is also secured to the band first fastening member11 and is secured to the band 10 along only one edge 13 of the fasteningmember 12. Preferrably, the distance between the first fastening member11 and the edge 13 of the second fastening member 12, designated by thereference numeral 14, is equal to approximately one third of thecircumference of the band 10.

The band 10 may be formed of a seamless tubular elastic material or of afiat elastic material stitched or otherwise joined to form a tubularmember. The diameter of the band 10 is such that the band may be slippedover the wearers hand or foot easily.

The bandage is applied to the desired location on the arm or leg of theuser by first slipping the band onto the limb and positioning it in thearea to which it is desired to apply tension. When the band is in thisposition, as shown in FIG. 3, it loosely surrounds the limb and may beeasily moved to the exact location desired. The user now grips the band10' between his thumb and fingers so that the thumb is in the region 14and the fingers are on the opposite side of the point 13 at which thefastening member 12 is attached to the band. As shown in FIG. 4, whileholding the band in this manner the user pulls the gripped portion ofthe band away from the limb. It should be noted that the band is grippedin such a manner that the point of attachment 13 of the second fasteningmember 12 is on the fold line 15 between the regions of the band grippedby the users thumb and fingers. When the band has been pulledsufficiently tight that the desired amount of tension is provided, theportion of the band 16 gripped between the thumb and fingers is foldedso that the region 14 is doubled over itself. During the folding of theportion 16 the thumb and fingers remain firmly clamped to the band tomaintain the desired tension. As shown in FIG. 5, as the region 16 isfolded the users thumb and fingers are gradually slid toward the fold15. When the fold has been completed, the user maintains his fingers onthe foldedover portions 16 closely adjacent to the fold 15 and uses histhumb to press the fastening member 12 into.

contact with the fastening member 11 thereby securing the fold in place.The band 10 is now tightly wrapped around the userslimb applying thedesired tension thereto. The fastening members 11 and 12 hold thefolded-over portions 16 securely in place, maintaining to be applied tocertain areas of the. body, a technique.

different from that described may be preferred. However, regardless ofthe method used to apply the bandage, the basic method remains the same.The band 10 is positioned at the desired location, stretched to achievethe desired tension, doubled over itself, and secured by the fasteningmembers.

When bandage 10 is in its applied position on the users limb, a portionof the second fastening member 12 is in engagement with the firstfastening member 1 1. This portion is separated from the attachmentpoint 13 by a distance which is less than the distance 14, measuredalong the surface of the sleeve, between the point of attachment 13 andthe first fastening member 11.

When it is desired to apply the bandage to alarger area the embodimentshown in FIG. 8 may be used. In this embodiment there is provided anelongated tubular band 20 provided at spaced intervals along its lengthwith first fastening members 21, 22, 23 and associated second fasteningmembers 24, 25, 26. Preferrably, the

first fastening members consist of pieces of Velcro secured to the bandin the same manner as the fastening members 11 of the previouslydescribed embodiment. Likewise, the second fastening members 24-26 arepreferrably tabs of a mating Velcro material, in the same fashion as asecond fastening members 12 of the previously described embodiment. Inapplying this bandage the same sequence is followed as with the previousembodiment, the middle pair of fastening members 22 and 25 preferrablybeing fastened first and the end pairs of fastening members 21, 24, and23, 26 being then fastened.

It should be noted that while the use of Velcro 'material' for the firstand second fastening members facilitates the application of the bandage,other fastening means may be used, if desired. For example, the firstfastening means may consist of a clamping type buckle and the secondfastening means of a strip of tape secured at one end to the band andthreaded through the buckle forming the first fastening means.

It should also be noted that the band 10 may be provided with auxiliarystraps to apply tension across the users wrist-to his fingers. Forexample, the band 10 of the present invention maybe substituted for thewrist encircling band shown in my copending application Ser. No.8l3,546, filed Apr. 4, 1969, for Wrist Restraint for Golfers andBowlers, now US. Pat. No. 3,606,343 granted 1971. 20, 191

Iclaim:

1. An elasticbandage for use on a human limb, comprising; I i

a circumferentially continuoustubular elastic sleeve of such diameter asto have free sliding relation with the portion of the limb on'which thebandage is to be applied; and g at least one set of fastening membersincluding a first fastening member secured to the outer surface of thesleeve and a second fastening member, in the form of an elongated stripsecured along only one end thereof tothe outer surface of the sleeve incircumferentially spaced relation to the first fasteningfmember, aportion of the second comprises a piece of material having numerousclosel spaced hook-like elements. on one surface thereof an the other ofsaid fastening members comprises a piece of material having numerousclosely spaced loop-like elements on one surface thereof.

3. The elastic bandageaccording to claim 1 wherein the bandage has aplurality of sets of fastening members.

V 4. The elastic bandage according to claim 3 wherein the firstfastening members are longitudinally aligned with one another and thesecond fastening members are longitudinally aligned with one another. v

e a: 1k t i

1. An elastic bandage for use on a human limb, comprising: acircumferentially continuous tubular elastic sleeve of such diameter asto have free sliding relation with the portion of the limb on which thebandage is to be applied; and at least one set of fastening membersincluding a first fastening member secured to the outer surface of thesleeve and a second fastening member in the form of an elongated stripsecured along only one end thereof to the outer surface of the sleeve incircumferentially spaced relation to the first fastening member, aportion of the second member fastening spaced from the point ofattachment, said portion being adapted for retaining engagement with thefirst fastening member, the distance between the secured end of thesecond fastening member and said portion being less than the distancealong the surface of the sleeve between the secured end of the secondfastening member and the first fastening member whereby a portion of thesleeve is retained in folded-over relation by the fastening members whenthe members are in retaining engagement with one another.
 2. An elasticbandage according to claim 1 further characterized in that one of saidfastening members comprises a piece of material having numerous closelyspaced hook-like elements on one surface thereof and the other of saidfastening members comprises a piece of material having numerous closelyspaced loop-like elements on one surface thereof.
 3. The elastic bandageaccording to claim 1 wherein the bandage has a plurality of sets offastening members.
 4. The elastic bandage according to claim 3 whereinthe first fastening members are longitudinally aligned with one anotherand the second fastening members are longitudinally aligned with oneanother.